Legends of Ogre Gate

But almost within the hour of the first report, a second report came in. It was only the previous year that the Dragon-Phoenix Sect had taken to using birds to send messages, something that was not common in Qi Xien.

When the third report came in, Wang Tian brought the matter to Sunan and Bao’s attention. Things only got worse as the day wore on.

One of the reports caused Wang Tian’s face to drain of blood. “Shasha,” he murmured, his eyes widening.

“Wang Tian...?” Bao said.

He slowly rolled the small strip of paper up. “They took her. And my children.”

There was little need to wonder who they were.

By the end of the day, fourteen reports had come in regarding kidnappings of family members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect.

“We have to do something!” Bao exclaimed. When she thought about how she would feel if Jinlong and Chunfeng had been taken by the Bone Slicers, it caused her to shudder in terror.

“We don’t even know where they’ve been taken, Bao,” Sunan said.

“But we will eventually, and being stuck down here in Zhe Valley will only delay how long before we can act.”

Sunan looked over at Li Runfa. After the fifteen years which had passed, Li Runfa’s hair was mostly gray, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. “You’re probably right, Phoenix Sovereign.” He looked down at the maps that were spread out on the table. “It might not be a bad idea to relocate to somewhere closer to the heart of the empire.”

After a moment passed, Sun Mai reached out and put his finger down onto one of the maps. “What about here?” he said.

Li Runfa’s eyes narrowed. “That’s where the Purple Cavern Killer and his apprentice challenged the Twin Giants to a duel, isn’t it?”

“You have a good memory,” Sun Mai replied. “The salt mines there were once owned by a rather rich tribe that controlled most of the northern tributary of the Ghezhong River. However, they resisted Hua Pi the Skin Dancer as he attempted to unify the Dai Bien Forest, and were eventually wiped out. The mines were abandoned about ten years ago, and have been ever since.”

Li Runfa leaned closer to the map. “That would put us within about two days of the Zun River. Definitely an ideal location.” He looked up at Bao. “However, once we leave this villa, it will be much more difficult to get any news. At the moment, all reports are sent to this location, and that will continue until we issue orders for the sect to regroup.”

Bao ground her teeth in frustration, and a long moment passed.

“We wait a few more days,” Sunan said. “If we don’t get any news by then, we can head to those salt mines.”

Wang Tian’s hands were clenched into fists as he said, “Phoenix Sovereign, I hereby request leave to--”

“Denied,” Bao interrupted, trying to keep a stern look on her face despite how her heart ached. She thought back to when Sunan had been kidnapped by the Bone General, and how she had barely been able to stand still because of the anxiety. And that had only lasted for a few short hours. “Running off on your own won’t do any good. There’s obviously a purpose behind all of this. We need to figure out what it is so that we can get your family back safely, and the families of all the other members of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect. Then we can go in prepared.”

Lips pursed tightly, Wang Tian nodded. Of course, everyone in the room knew that if Wang Tian had expressed such a desire, other lower-ranking members of the sect scattered about in the world would likely have the same urge to take action.

The news they were waiting for came in two days later.

“Heart’s Ridge,” Li Runfa said. “That’s where they’re going, I’m almost completely certain of it. I got three separate reports all indicating the same thing.”

“Heart’s Ridge?” Sunan looked down at the map. “‘I haven’t heard of it before.”

“About five years ago, the Demon Emperor began construction of a fortress here.” He pointed to a location on the map where the Banyan Mountains dropped down toward the Yao Yun Sea. “It’s about two days south of Yu Zhing, and never really had a name before. But when they started building the fortress, they uncovered a large, heart-shaped rock, and thus the name.

“It’s a huge structure,” he continued, “one of the largest fortresses ever built by the Demon Emperor, perhaps the only larger one being Yao Gong Palace itself.”

“Fortress?” Dragon Lord Lin Cuirou said. “Or prison.”

Li Runfa looked up. “If I recall, it was your man who infiltrated the construction team, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right. He said that the depths of the fortress are filled with countless tunnels and corridors with cages and barred chambers. Dungeons the likes of which don’t exist anywhere in Qi Xien.”

Li Runfa looked back down at the map. “Yes, I always wondered what use the Demon Emperor would have for so many cells. He doesn’t tend to keep prisoners alive for very long. Now it all makes sense.”

Bao reached up to massage the bridge of her nose. “Are you telling me they’ve been planning this for five years?”

“It’s hard to say,” Li Runfa replied. “Dragon Lord Lin, how much do you know about the fortress itself?”

“The reason my man infiltrated the construction team,” Lin Cuirou replied, “is because my division of the sect was in charge of the roads connecting Yu Zhing, Xuanlu, and Huisheng. Heart’s Ridge overlooks the path between Xuanlu and Yu Zhing, so it was only natural for me to try to keep tabs on what was being built there. Furthermore, I had my man create a rough map of the entire structure. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some detailed information about the Demon Emperor’s second-largest fortification, one that essentially controls the land path between south and north.”

By this point, all eyes in the room were focused on Lin Cuirou. A moment later, Bao broke the silence. “Go get that map.”

**

They set out the following day. Other than Sunan and Bao, the forces of the Dragon-Phoenix Sect included seven Dragon Lords, seven Claws of the Phoneix, Phoenix General Mao Yun, Dragon General Tie Gangwen, and the spymaster, Li Runfa, a total of seventeen.

A report had come in indicating that at least one of the Scorpion Swordsman’s disciples’ family had been kidnapped, so the Scorpion Swordsman himself joined them, bringing thirty of his top fighters.

Sun Mai also joined them, and had five disciples with him.

As such, it was a group of over fifty of the top martial artists in the lands who set out from Scorpion Villa toward Heart’s Ridge.

Scorpion Villa itself was located in the mountains north of Zhe Valley, and also overlooked the westernmost stretches of the Gezhong River, which ran through the north of the Dai Bien Forest. Furthermore, since the Scorpion Swordsman often had dealings with Hua Pi the Skin Dancer, he maintained a small travel hub on the river, only two days’ march from the villa. Normally manned by two of his disciples, it was stocked with travel supplies and also had a cache of ten large, bamboo rafts, each one large enough to hold ten people.

Soon, they were speeding down the Gezhong River into the Dai Bien Forest.

On the second morning of what was likely going to be a seven-day journey to the salt mines, Sunan, Bao, and Sun Mai finally discussed the matter of the dreams and poems.

“For more than ten years, I had almost no dreams,” Sunan explained to Sun Mai, “at least not the dreams of gold. Those dreams I did have seemed more like memories of previous dreams. When they returned, they were stronger and clearer than before. Like true visions of another time and place.

“For a period of months, I had the same dream over and over again, until the details were burned into my mind as if by branding iron. By now, I can recall each part in complete detail.

“I am looking down at the ground, where numerous colored dots swirl into a shape that looks very much like the dragon-phoenix symbol that makes up the insignia of our sect. A black hurricane sweeps across the symbol, which beings to emanate golden light. The light causes golden clouds to form, and then golden rains begins to fall. A wind screams, and a vortex springs up to cover the symbol and the hurricane. Meanwhile, the sun, the moon, and two stars in the heavens form a perfect square overhead. Golden light connects the four heavenly bodies, which descend to the earth in the form of a golden square. Black and white lightning crash, and in the end, two golden lions are all that are left behind.”

Sun Mai nodded. “And the poem?”

Bao immediately recited the poem:

The shining Wyrm strides ever north,

The graceful Bird due south takes wing,

From north to east the clouds surge forth,

From south to west fair feathers sing.

The fiends, a tempest dark and foul,

A shining pillar paints the sky,

Golden droplets spin and howl,

The sun, the moon, two stars ally.

Heaven and Earth turned inside out,

The crash and clash of night and day,

All compass points unite and shout,

The Lions seal the fiends away.

Sun Mai nodded, then closed his eyes for six hours straight. When he opened them, he sighed.

“There are many similar elements between the poem and the dream, and some elements which are not possible to reconcile at the moment. For example, what are the colored dots in the dream, and what are the compass points mentioned in the poem?

“In any case, there is something I’ve come to suspect over the years. It only hit me after Du Qian and I took that journey on the chariot. Afterward, my meditations on the subject of Time led me to certain speculations. Sunan, do you mind if I check your pulse?”

The way Sun Mai seemed to suddenly change conversation topics in the middle of his sentence reminded Sunan of the old Sun Mai, and he smiled. Pulling back his sleeve, he extended his wrist, which Sun Mai reached out and grabbed lightly with his thumb and forefingers.

A moment later, Sunan felt a soft energy enter through his wrist, slowly spreading out through his meridians until it filled his entire body. An hour later, the energy dissipated, and Sun Mai opened his eyes and looked at Bao.

“Bao?”

She nodded, pulled back her sleeve, and extended her wrist.

Another hour passed.

Finally, Sun Mai released Bao’s wrist and opened his eyes again.

“As I suspected,” he said. “The evidence is almost impossible to detect. Only a Profound Master who has made multiple breakthroughs would notice that....”